


TransWarped

by Swerv



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Animated (2007), Transformers: Prime
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swerv/pseuds/Swerv
Summary: Another failed test run of Isaac Sumdac's Bi-Directional Unified Transit Terminal (also known as the BUTT) results in an odd switcheroo of sorts. Now Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Jack Darby must adjust to life in futuristic Detroit while Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Sari Sumdac get involved in a Cybertronian war in the small town of Jasper.Unbeknownst to the Autobots, the Decepticons have also been affected by the BUTT's malfunction. Blackarachnia and Lugnut are transported to the Nemesis in the midst of a war that their faction lost millions of stellar cycles ago. And in another universe, Starscream and Soundwave are stuck on Earth with uncooperative Decepticons and another chance to reclaim their homeworld.
Comments: 28
Kudos: 138





	1. The Bi-Directional Unified Transit Terminal

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Before you start reading just a couple of things to keep in mind. This fanfic heavily references the BotCon table read of Bee in the City so if you haven't seen it you might be a bit confused. It's not that important in order to understand what's going on, but I want everyone to know I didn't come up with the B.U.T.T myself. I'm not a weirdo.  
> Another thing is that this fanfic takes place during Season 3 of both shows. I want to try to keep as faithful to canon as possible but I might slip up here and there.

“It’s a beautiful day to build a space bridge!” Sari declared with open arms as she arrived on the roof of Sumdac Towers. She was greeted by the sight of her family busy at work. Bulkhead and her father were brainstorming at the space bridge’s console while Ratchet was elbow deep in the floor wiring of the space bridge.

“Ah there you are, Sari! I thought I wouldn’t get to see you before I went to my meeting.” Her father called to her as she stepped out of the industrial lift. He glanced up from the space bridge schematics to wave his daughter over to the console. “Are you finally ready to help us this week?”

With Megatron randomly transwarping around the galaxy in Omega Supreme and the revelation that Longarm Prime was a Decepticon traitor, they had to find a way to contact Autobot High Command fast. And since they had no way to communicate with Cybertron and no ship, building a space bridge and transwarping to their home planet was the only way to warn them.

Sari hummed in agreement and activated her Azusa skates to glide across the floor to Bulkhead and her father. She enveloped her father in a hug. “This week has been awesome! We haven’t seen a Con in months, no Detroit villain is causing mayhem, and last night I got a new high score on Ninja Gladiator!” She beamed and held up a fist to Bulkhead, who lightly fist-bumped it with his claw.

“Well I hope you can channel all that positive energy into helping us. This space bridge is fighting us like a pit snake.” Ratchet said as he joined the others by the console. He had a scanner in his hand and an aggravated expression on his face.

“Yeah I know.” Sari huffed, her good mood dampened by Ratchet’s typical sour one. She turned to the barely formed structure, looking at all the unfinished panels and downed wiring. They’d managed to build the foundation and had just started the large prongs that generated the transwarp sphere. “This space bridge is taking longer than I thought it would. We’ve been working on this thing for weeks.”

Isaac Sumdac came to his daughter's side and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “Even with our skills combined, it’d be difficult to build a completely new space bridge in just a few weeks. But don’t worry, Sari. We’re smarter than the Decepticons. We’ll have this all straightened out in no time.” The two Autobots nodded in agreement. Then the professor’s expression shifted to a coy, hopeful one. He turned to look up at the robots, “But we might be able to get the message to Cybertron in another way.”

Ratchet rolled his optics at the professor. “We’re not using the Bi-Directional Unified Transmit Terminal. We’ve been over this, Sumdac! Last time, your little invention sent Sari, Bumblebee, and Prime to a different dimension! Do you want that to happen again?” He seethed, no doubt remembering the professor’s panicked rambling when he had informed them that Bumblebee, Optimus, and Sari had disappeared after his device malfunctioned. 

“No! Of course I don’t want it happening again! But I’ve fixed the bugs! If we hook it up to the plasma dynamic thruster and gyro-stabilizer, we will never experience that again.” Isaac quickly defended himself. Bulkhead and Ratchet only gave him skeptical looks.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re great at utilizing Cybertronian tech but do you really think this is the best idea?” Bulkhead said with only the slightest bit of hesitation. He was still coming into his new role as space bridge technician but he still wanted to voice his opinion to his teammates.

“We need to inform Cybertron as fast as possible. This might be a faster way than building a space bridge from scratch. Despite its past faults, the Bi-Directinal Unified Transit Terminal would be useful for quick traveling between Cybertron and Earth. And if we use it now instead of waiting until the space bridge was complete, we could stop Decepticons from trying to invade Cybertron much sooner. There might even be a chance of finding Omega Supreme.” Isaac reasoned. Even when he was working day and night as Megatron’s slave, it took months to complete the Decepticon’s space bridge in the caves. Though Ratchet and Bulkhead were more skilled than any of Megatron’s subjects, Isaac knew that they had at least another month before the machine would function properly.

Any further explanation the professor had was interrupted by a beeping in his coat pocket. The professor fished his phone out of his pocket and let out a sigh of defeat. He muted the alarm before continuing, “I know that the idea isn’t perfect, but the thought of Megatron being left alone with a powerful weapon like Omega Supreme…” he trailed off momentarily, the sight of Omega Supreme looming over Detroit coming to the forefront of his memory. The professor shook his head and continued, “I must attend a meeting but I will try to return as soon as I can. The Transit Terminal is beside one of the power cores in the corner.” He nodded towards a large circular device. With that, the professor gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek before making his way to the large industrial lift. 

“So what do you think, Docbot? You think it’s worth the risk?” Bulkhead turned to Ratchet once the lift doors closed and lowered Professor Sumdac out of sight.  
Sari, offended at Bulkhead's questions, loudly interjected. “My dad’s just trying to help! Besides it’s not his fault I got sent to another dimension. My key was the one that did it.”  
“Sari, we’re talking about using transwarp energy! It has as much chance of sending us to Cybertron as it does of sending us to the other side of the galaxy! We can’t use valuable resources and time on something that might not work. We have too much to lose to risk it on the Transit Terminal. The Head of Central Intelligence is a Decepticon for Primus’ sake!” Ratchet threw his servos up in frustration. 

Ratchet scrubbed his servo over his faceplate. Before Sari or Bulkhead could argue any further and inevitably give the older mech a headache, he walked back to the circuitry that he’d been working on. Sari glanced up at Bulkhead, who would only give her an awkward shrug before lumbering back to his position at the space bridge console. 

Evidently their conversation was over.

Sari rolled her eyes before directing her attention to her father’s newly improved invention. Sari moved towards the device, ignoring Ratchet’s disapproving look as she made her way over.

The BUTT- an awful acronym she would never get used to- was a circular metal ring. The walls were about as tall as Bumblebee but it was wide enough for at least two members of their team to stand inside. Her father had designed it so a beam of transwarp energy would converge in the center of the ring. A bot would stand at the center of the ring, be engulfed in the transwarp energy, and then transported to another part of the universe. 

Last time it was activated, her key reacted with the machine and caused it to malfunction. Without warning, it had engulfed her, Bumblebee, and Optimus in a blinding beam of light then dragged them kicking and screaming into another dimension. The three of them had arrived on a parallel Cybertron in mere seconds. It was a miracle the trio was sent to the Transtechs, who were experts in interdimensional travel. If they had gone to a different dimension, Primus knows if they’d have gotten home.

“Be careful, kid. You might accidentally set that thing off!” Ratchet called, interrupting Sari’s memories of her adventure with the Transtechs.

“I know! I’m just checking it out!” Sari shouted over her shoulder. She tried not to sound too annoyed so she could avoid another lecture from Ratchet. 

Sari gently ran a hand over the crude metal walls. Despite being off, the machine thrummed under her touch. The sensation crept through her fingers, up her arm, and spread to the rest of her body. She shivered at the strange sensation and quickly removed her hand. The moment her fingers slipped from the metal, the thrumming grew. Sari took a step back in alarm as the noise continued to rise.

“What did you do? I told you not to touch anything!” Ratchet scolded as he came to Sari’s side. By this time, the thrumming had turned into a loud buzzing noise. The sound reverberated across the BUTT and the metal walls began to rattle with pent up energy. 

“I don’t know!” The teenager yelped as she watched sparks dance across the edges of the machine’s walls. The BUTT definitely hadn’t done this before. 

“I can’t turn it off! It’s not plugged into anything!” Bulkhead cried out from somewhere behind them. The pair turned to see Bulkhead holding up the cable 

“What?!” Sari and Ratchet cried out at the same time. They turned towards Bulkhead who was holding up the BUTT’s main power cable. The power cell, disconnected from the machinery, sat meters away from the cable. 

Before Bulkhead could explain further, the Bi-Directional Unified Transit Terminal sprang to life.  
⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿

“Finding Megatron is our main priority, Blitzwing! If the Decepticons are to succeed, we need the guidance of our glorious leader! If anyone on Earth can find him, it’s Blackarachnia.” Lugnut preached as he and Blitzwing landed at the edge of the giant crater on Dinobot Island.

Blitzwing rolled his optic at his companion’s overeager attitude. Lugnut had been raving about revenge on the Autobots for weeks, ever since their defeat at the mines. The pair had reunited a day after their humiliating loss. Being blasted out of the sky by Omega Supreme was a painful and messy experience for the triple changer. He’d fallen face-first into the snow and then spent megacycles looking for missing body parts. Blitzwing had been scanning for his left turret when he stumbled upon Lugnut trying to screw his claw back to his arm.

The only reason Blitzwing had even agreed to help find Blackarachnia was because Lugnut wouldn’t shut up and leave him alone. While Blitzwing shared Lugnut’s thirst for revenge, he knew the odds of finding Blackarachnia were slim. They’d seen footage of the technorganic freak on the news broadcasts on Detroit’s billboards but there was no other trace of her. The way he saw it, if the femme wanted to be found, she would have joined them megacycles ago when Megatron had returned.

“Who needs that disgusting bug? We should just kidnap that scientist again. If he built a space bridge once, he can do it again.” Hothead ranted as they began to descend into the forest that lined the massive crater. Any tree that stood in their way was either crushed under Lugnut’s claws or smashed to pieces by Blitzwing’s fist. The feeling of the wood splintering under the triple changer’s servos barely satiated his ever-present fury. 

“Sumdac and the large green Autobot will be guarded more than ever now. Besides, it is Blackarachnia’s duty as a Decepticon to aid her leader. We cannot leave Lord Megatron to the mercy of a Sentinel Supreme!” Lugnut swatted down the last tree in their path, revealing the wide-open space of the crater floor. 

Blitzwing stood beside the larger Cybertronian and surveyed the alleged hideout. 

The area was unremarkable, covered in rock and grass like the rest of the planet. But what caught his attention was the metal door wedged into the far side of the crater. Blitzwing didn’t know much about Earth, but he figured that Earth caves didn’t usually come with large metal doors. 

“Most curious,” Blitzwing said, his default monocled personality taking over. He approached the door with his turrets ready to fire. Blackarachnia wasn’t the type to place traps outside her abode, if this even was her base, but he wasn’t taking any chances. And if this was a regular human base, he could just blow it up for fun. “Perhaps you are correct for a second time, Lugnut. You appear to be better at finding fellow Decepticons than the DJD.” Icy said with the mildest hint of surprise. First Lugnut finds Megatron, and now he finds Blackarachnia. It was impressive considering the large jet wasn’t known for his intelligence or tracking skills. Blitzwing didn’t mind at all. The sooner Lugnut found Blackarachnia, the faster he could leave. Without further prompting, Blitzwing pounded on the door.

There was no answer. 

Hothead then took control from Icy and began pounding his fist against the door. “Get out of there, insect, or I’m going to break down this door!” Blitzwing’s face shifted and Random’s demented cackle accompanied the sound of his fists slamming against the door. “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in!” 

“Enough of this! If the bug will not come out then we will make her come out!” Lugnut roared. 

Blitzwing barely had time to duck before a projectile flew past his helm. The door and surrounding wall erupted, sending rubble all over the unfortunate triple changer. 

⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿

Lugnut squeezed his way through the cramped entryway of what he hoped was Blackarachnia’s base. Thankfully, he had destroyed most of the hallway and had only a short section to squeeze through before he entered the main area of the cave. He was able to stand to his full height once he entered the spacious area. 

It was a subterranean lab, he realized as he scanned his surroundings. The lab was littered with test tubes, broken machinery, complicated equations scribbled on tables, and large vats that held grotesque creatures suspended in green liquid. The sight was similar to Blackarachnia’s lab on the Nemesis. 

But what stood out to him was the half assembled transwarp power cell that sat in the middle of the lab. It looked like one of the power cells the Constructicons had built for their leader. The bomber jet moved to further examine the large object. It only took him an astrosecond to confirm that it was from the Megatron’s now destroyed base. Lugnut picked up one of the pieces of twisted metal that lay around the power cell. It was made of the exact same crude metal he and Blitzwing had stolen from a construction site in Detroit. 

“Don’t touch that! Who knows what kind of damage those awful claws of yours will do to it.” Came an irritated voice from behind him.  
Lugnut turned to face Blackarachnia, who was now in her spider form and dangling from the ceiling, and all 4 eyes glaring at him. Lugnut returned the glare with his 5 optics. 

“You’ve been scavenging the wreckage from the blast?” 

“Oh please, if you were so concerned about others finding anything down there, you should have cleaned up the wreckage yourself.” The technorganic scoffed as she transformed into her bipedal mode. She moved to stand between the large mech and the parts of the power cell. “And it’s not like I’m the only person shifting through the rubble anyway. Every time I go back there, I always catch someone. A Decepticon, an Autobot, frag, I’ve even seen some Earthlings down there.” She wrenched the piece of metal out of the mech’s hand, ignoring his growl, before tossing it back into the pile on the floor.

“Why did you not join us in our battle to destroy the Autobots?”

Blackarachnia only shrugged. “I had my own problems to deal with first.”

Lugnut’s irritation hit its peak. He roared, “You are no better than Starscream! Megatron comes before all your selfish desires!”

“Oh, I’m sure Megatron would agree! What I’ve done is exactly like planting a bomb on Megatron in a half-baked attempt at a coup!”

Lugnut glowered at the femme. He clenched his claw before lunging forward. “You will pay for your insolence, bug!”

Blackarachnia hissed, leaping out of the behemoth’s path. She smirked as the large mech floundered and crashed to the ground. The force of the mech’s fall reverberated throughout the entire lab, shaking the large power cell as well.

“Too slow as usual, Lugnut. Actually, if I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought you’d gotten…” The spider trailed off as she watched the power cell continue to shake. All 4 of her eyes widened as the transwarp power cell’s began to glow, illuminating the room in a bright aqua light. “Now what did you-” She was cut off by the power cell releasing a surge of energy. 

Rather than pushing the duo away from the power cell, it knocked them forward as if dragged by a large magnet. Blackarachnia crashed into Lugnut, who was still on the ground.  
The pair tried to move, but only managed to rattle their armor as the power cell held its grip on them. They were unable to look away or move as the power cell’s color began to change. Slowly the insides of the power cell began to swirl with green and blue. 

The device shaking increased and Blackarachnia feared the device would explode at any moment. Being sent to the Well of All Sparks with Lugnut was the last thing she needed. She could do nothing but close her eyes as the power cell released another burst of energy and her sensors shut down.


	2. The Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulkhead follows Wheeljack to base after their defeat in Scotland, but a ground bridge malfunction creates even bigger problems for Team Prime. 
> 
> Knock Out alerts Shockwave to a problem that may delay Project Predacon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place right after Prime Season 3 Episode 6 - Chain of Command. The episode is fresh in my mind so I apologize if I don't explain the events of the episode enough in this chapter.
> 
> The basic rundown of the end of the episode: Starscream gets the Predacon bone but loses the Apex Amor to Miko, who then beats the snot out of him with the armor. Wheeljack drives off into the Scotland sunset and Bulkhead remarks that Wheeljack "just broke up the band".

Bulkhead exhaled slowly as he watched Wheeljack’s alternate mode get farther and farther away. Though they had lost the Predacon bone, Bulkhead thought they were making good progress as a new team. Ultra Magnus was slightly more accepting of Wheeljack’s personality and Miko’s contribution to the team. For a moment, things were looking up. And yet it wouldn’t be enough to make Wheeljack stay.

“You gotta go after Wheeljack, Bulk!” Miko pleaded as she turned to her friend. She was in her Apex Armor and used its super strength to grip his armor tightly. She mustered up her most sympathetic puppy-eyed look. “You can’t let him break up the band! We just got back together!”

Bulkhead shook his head before drawing his attention back to the human. “It’s best we just let him go. I’ve tried to convince Jackie to stay before and it didn’t work.”

“But if we let him leave now, he might not ever come back!”

“I agree with Miko.” Ultra Magnus chimed in from behind the duo, much to their surprise. Miko and Bulkhead turned to Ultra Magnus. The Autobot kept his optics on Wheeljack’s retreating form and continued, “The Decepticons now have their Predacon DNA and soon we will be dealing with many more Predacon clones. If we are to succeed in our fight against the Decepticons, we must stand as a united front. Despite his disrespect and flippant attitude regarding regulations, we need Wheeljack.” 

Miko beamed at Ultra Magnus before waving at Bulkhead, “Go go go! Magnus and I will see you later!”

Bulkhead nodded his thanks before transforming and speeding towards Wheeljack as fast as his engine would allow. Wheeljack had disappeared over the horizon by this point, but he hadn’t gotten back to the base yet. Bulkhead commed Ratchet just as the tell-tale portal formed meters in front of Wheeljack’s speeding form. “Doc-bot, don’t close the ground bridge yet I’m right behind Wheeljack!” Bulkhead yelled over the sound of his overworked engine. The doctor grunted an affirmation and thankfully it only took Bulkhead a few seconds longer before he passed through the ground bridge into Hangar E.

The green Wrecker transformed as soon as he passed the last green swirls of the ground bridge. To Bulkhead's surprise, Wheeljack hadn’t stormed off the base. Bulkhead took this as a good sign, it meant that Wheeljack hadn’t completely made up his mind about leaving Team Prime yet.

“Well, I just got wind of another Con hotspot right outside of Taos, New Mexico.” Agent Fowler announced as he walked out of his office onto the yellow scaffolding. “And since Prime and his unit aren’t back from oil country…”

Arcee took the hint and was already heading towards Bulkhead and the ground bridge terminal behind him.“Raf, set a bridge for Fowler’s coordinates. You two roll with me.”

“Not today, alright.” Wheeljack held up a servo, sparing Bulkhead a dejected glance. 

“If you’re okay with sending me out alone.” 

“Alone’s how I prefer to roll.”

At that comment, Bulkhead tried to step in. “Jackie, listen-”

“Not now, Bulk” Wheeljack grumbled as he followed Arcee.

Bulkhead’s reply was cut off by an unfamiliar whirring noise. The ground bridge came to life behind him. The ground bridge portal slowly grew, but it glowed an unfamiliar aqua color rather than its usual mix of green, blue, and pink. The remaining members of Team Prime gaped in shock at the strange occurrence. 

“Uh, is that a normal color?” Jack asked as he got off the couch. He discarded his game controller and walked to the edge of the concrete platform to get a closer look. 

“Not one that I’ve seen before.” Ratchet said warily as he turned to the ground bridge control monitors. He hastily tapped at icons on the screen before pulling on the control’s lever. Ratchet clenched his denta as the ground bridge disobeyed his command and continued to operate. 

“Everything okay there, Doc?” Wheeljack called out to the ambulance. He, Arcee, and Bulkhead had backed up several paces after noticing the ground bridge’s strange behavior. 

Ratchet didn't reply and kept working at the controls. He pulled the lever, this time with much more force, but the ground bridge did not shut down. The bot was so engrossed in his work, he didn’t notice the edge of the ground bridge expand.

“Ratchet, watch out!” Raf pointed to the ground bridge behind the doctor. 

Ratchet’s optics widened as he felt the blue swirls of energy lick at his armor. The doctor quickly turned around and found that he was trapped between the ground bridge and its controls. The ground bridge was persistent, its tendrils curling around his servos as he tried to swat them away. 

Bulkhead began to charge towards Ratchet to pull him away from the controls when he felt a tug on his pede. Bright blue energy swirled around his leg, slowly working its way up and effectively preventing him from moving more than a few inches. Next to him, Wheeljack and Arcee weren’t faring much better. It was as if the ground bridge had turned into a vortex, trying to suck in anything it could. So far, it hadn’t succeeded, but Bulkhead was sure that would change soon.

An alarmed cry drew Bulkhead’s attention away from his situation and towards the hangar’s entrance. Clinging one of the large crates by the entrance was June Darby. She held on for dear life as everything around them shook.

“Mom?!” Jack shouted in alarm. Without a second thought, he ran down the stairs to his mother, who was struggling to say upright. 

“Jack, wait!” Arcee called out, but her voice was overpowered by the chaos around them. 

Regardless, she was too late and Jack had already reached the bottom of the stairs. But he only made it a few meters before he felt a strong pull. Jack yelped as his feet left the floor and he went flying backwards. Humans and Cybertronians alike watched as Jack was jerked towards the ground bridge. Wheeljack, Arcee, and Bulkhead all reached out to grab Jack. The boy brushed past Wheeljack and Arcee’s servos and landed in the crook of Bulkhead’s arm. 

Bulkhead and Arcee sighed in relief as Jack clung to his arm. Bulkhead was grateful Jack hadn’t been taken by the ground bridge, but Jack’s new position presented a new problem. With Jack clinging to his arm Bulkhead now only had one servo to fight off the ground bridge.

“Ratchet!” Bulkhead called out through gritted denta. If the medic didn’t know how to shut it down by now, then they’d have to try doing it another way. Destroying it wasn't an ideal option but it might be their only one. It was either that or get transported Primus knows where. 

Bulkhead turned to the ground bridge controls only to find that no one was there. 

“Where’d he go?” Jack asked in alarm. The human turned to the malfunctioning ground bridge that was only a few feet away from him. How could it have swallowed their friend without any of them noticing?

Bulkhead and Jack yelped as they were jerked back. Arcee’s small servos latched onto Bulkhead’s other arm. Her servos clawed at his armor, refusing to let go even as the metal bent under her grip.

“Hold on, Bulkhead!” Wheeljack called from the ground bridge controls. Since he was farthest from the ground bridge, it was much easier for him to break free from the ground bridge’s hold. He replaced Ratchet’s position in no time, though he had no idea what he was doing. 

Meanwhile, Bulkhead’s grip was failing. His pedes slid back and created an awful scraping noise against the concrete floor. It was a terrifying feeling to be caught between Arcee’s slowly loosening grip and the unknown void. 

“Jack!” Arcee cried, her optics fixed on the now-vacant space of Bulkhead’s arm. The teenager had disappeared as quickly and silently as Ratchet. 

Now Bulkhead knew he was a goner. He felt the ground bridge’s familiar touch on his back kibble and he knew Arcee wasn’t strong enough to pull him out of it now. He opened his mouth to tell Arcee to let go, that it was too late now, but the ground bridge pulled at him once more. 

Arcee’s servos were wrenched from his arm and Bulkhead was swallowed by the portal.

⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿

“Try it again, Wheeljack!” Rafael shouted over the chaotic vortex that was once the Autobots’ ground bridge. Despite the chaos around him, Raf didn’t stop working. He used one hand to clutch at the railing and typed at his computer with the other hand. 

The Wrecker did as he was told. To the relief of everyone in the hangar, the ground bridge began to shut down with a loud whirring noise. The vortex dissipated and any flying debris hit the ground. All at once, the remaining members of Team Prime let out a sigh of relief. 

The feeling was short-lived.

Agent Fowler was the first to move towards the ground bridge. He bounded down the stairs towards Rafael and the human-sized platform by the ground bridge controls. “Rafael, did the coordinates of the ground bridge change?”

The boy frantically scanned the display of his computer. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “I-I don’t think so. The last coordinates were to Scotland so they should be there, but I’m not seeing any energy signatures.” Raf turned to the giant monitors behind him. They confirmed that Bulkhead and Ratchet’s energy signatures were nowhere to be found. 

“Well, they couldn’t have just disappeared.” Wheeljack reasoned. His optics looked over the display with careful attention. He was determined not to panic until he knew for certain that their three companions were nowhere to be found. “And even if Ratchet or Bulkhead aren’t there, then call Jack-”

“He’s not picking up his phone!” June cried with helpless worry. Jack’s mother tightly gripped her phone as she tried to dial Jack’s number again. 

“I'm gonna try to run a diagnostic on the ground bridge,” Rafael explained quickly. His hands shook and his chest felt tight but he was determined not to crumble under the pressure. “Maybe I can-”

He was cut off by a whirring coming from the ground bridge. It reactivated, but not by his command. A sense of foreboding swept through the ground bridge’s audience as it came to life. By the time the portal grew to half its size, it was clear it was still malfunctioning. If anything, it looked worse. It was still the strange aqua color, but this time the ground bridge was a completely different shape. The ground bridge became an aqua sphere of energy, rather than the steady vortex they were used to. 

The sphere released a burst of blinding light. It took the Cybertronians a few nanoclicks to adjust their optics and it took the three humans even longer. And when they were finally able to see again, they were shocked at what they found.

Two mechs lay in front of the ground bridge motionless, almost as if the bridge spit them out. Seated in the crook of the smaller mech’s arm was a human in a yellow dress.

Arcee, being the closest to the three new arrivals, was able to reach the mechs first. She activated both of her blasters and inched towards them, wary of any sudden movements from the mechs and the human. She quickly assessed the newcomers. 

The smallest of the two was a red mech with a broken chevron and thick abdominal armor. This bot was small, even compared to her. The other bot was much larger, closer to her height, and green. Her apprehension lessened a fraction when she saw the Autobot insignia on the red mech’s abdomen. At least they weren’t Decepticon insignias. The Autobot couldn’t help but notice the paint jobs and feel a sense of familiarity. 

A knock on her leg brought the femme out of her thoughts, “Arcee,” June stood next to her. The human’s body was tense with anxiety and she kept her eyes on the trio a few meters in front of them. “Who are they?”

“I don’t know, but don’t closer. We need to determine if they’re friendlies.” It wouldn't be the first time an Autobot ally turned out to be an enemy. She wasn’t about to trust two mechs and a human that came by way of ground bridge malfunction. And since they were currently down two Autobots and a human ally, she wasn’t going to be taking any more chances.

“What about the human? They could require medical attention.”

“And they could be a serious threat, which is why you should keep your distance.”

As if on cue, the unknown human stirred. Behind her, June slowly backed up, taking Arcee’s warning to heart. The girl in the yellow dress scrubbed a hand over her face and groaned, likely trying to get over the aftereffects of traveling through a malfunctioning ground bridge. She sat up with a pained grunt. After a moment, she paused and glanced up, revealing bright blue eyes that bordered on inhuman. The girl squeaked when she realized she had an audience.

Before Team Prime could act further, the girl rose. She stood tall and raised her arms with her palms facing outwards. Then, there was a familiar shifting noise. Her fingers extended and her palms split apart to reveal small blasters. 

Team Prime stared in astonishment.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m serious!” The redhead said firmly, though her eyes were full of uncertainty and fear. She waved her arms frantically, trying to aim her blasters in every direction at once. 

At the ground bridge controls, Wheeljack snorted. He activated his blaster long before the human even woke up, but he hadn’t aimed it at the small girl. He was caught between amusement and shock at the display. 

Arcee held up a servo, stopping Wheeljack before he could antagonize the girl. While she was dangerous in her own right, the femme could tell this girl was acting out of fear and confusion rather than malice. Arcee knelt slowly. She stayed far enough to not scare the girl but close enough to look her in the eye. Or perhaps it would be better to call them optics. It was clear this girl was more than meets the eye.

Arcee decided to take a page out of Optimus’ playbook. The calm, gentle approach usually worked for Optimus when de-escalating situations, Arcee hoped it would work for her. The Autobot slowly explained, “We’re not here to hurt you. I think our ground bridge malfunctioned and brought you here.” Arcee watched the girl with a critical optic, ready to defend her teammates if this small newcomer became more hostile. 

Immediately, the girl dropped her arms and her hands reverted into their original form. The small girl’s face quickly shifted from fearful to surprise to exasperation.  
“Oh frag, not again.” 

⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿

Starscream was uncharacteristically late. Usually, after a successful mission, the Air Commander returned to base quickly so he could gloat about it. By Shockwave’s calculations, it should have taken Starscream a few Earth minutes to pass through the ground bridge and meet Megatron on the outer hull of the Nemesis.

But it had been nearly a breem and there was no sign of Starscream.

Megatron appeared unbothered. Shockwave doubted the warlord even noticed Starscream hadn’t arrived yet. Megatron was too busy eagerly awaiting Predaking’s return with the Predacon bone. 

“Shockwave,” Knock Out’s voice in his audio sensor interrupted the scientist’s musings. The urgency in the medic’s voice confirmed his suspicions. “There’s been a bit of an accident. You better get down here now.”

Shockwave turned to Megatron. “My Liege, I am needed on the bridge.”

Megatron barely paid him any attention and sent the mech away with one swipe of a claw. 

The journey to the bridge was quick, but it gave Shockwave enough time to hypothesize what might have gone wrong on the bridge while he and Megatron were on the Nemesis’ hull. Whatever happened was likely Starscream’s fault. The seeker was prone to cause unneeded drama whenever he saw fit, which was most of the time. It was rare that a solar cycle went by without Starscream overreacting to a minor inconvenience or creating more work for the other Decepticons with his gross incompetent. 

Shockwave expected this to be no different.

Knock Out met Shockwave at the entrance to the bridge. The red mech visibly relaxed at the sight of Shockwave, which in and of itself was a rare occurrence. “For the record, I was locating more Predacon bones. Whatever happened has nothing to do with me.”

“What happened?” Shockwave ignored Knock Out’s disclaimer and began walking towards the end of the bridge. A small group of Vehicons formed a tight circle at the other side of the catwalk, most with their blasters activated and aimed at whatever or whoever was in the center. 

“Soundwave had activated a ground bridge to let Starscream and two other Seekers through. The two Seekers got through fine and dandy but Starscream just...disappeared. 

Normally I wouldn’t care, but then the ground bridge starts turning _blue_. If that wasn’t strange enough, then Soundwave disappears too. As soon as I notice he’s missing, there’s a flash of light that blocks out all of my sensors. When I finally recalibrated them, I saw these two just...lying here” Knock Out’s babbling trailed off as they reached the group of Vehicons. 

This was more than “a bit of an accident”.

Two unfamiliar bots were sprawled out on the floor, one on top of the other. The bot on the bottom of the pile was a large purple and grey mech. The smaller bot lying face down on the large mech was a slim purple and gold femme. The femme was curled into the chest of the mech beneath her, and Shockwave was able to see the large mech’s Decepticon insignia partially obscured under the femme’s arm. 

“Don’t they look cozy?” Knock Out hummed as he stood next to Shockwave. 

“Restrain them,” Shockwave ordered.

The Vehicons obeyed immediately. They began by grabbing the femme and hauling her up. One Vehicon lifted the femme with ease but paused as he held her in his arms. The Vehicon hesitated before turning to Knock Out. “This one is offline. And it’s armor has been compromised.”

“Compromised?” The red mech swooped in with the practiced focus of a medic. He produced a scanner in one hand and gently prodded the femme’s forearm with the other. There was a tense moment of silence as the others watched Knock Out, the unconscious Decepticon, and the Vehicon soldier. Knock Out’s face remained focused on the scanner. “The armor is weaker than normal, but I can’t tell if that’s because of the ground bridge malfunction or something else. And there’s no spark signature.” The analysis was directed at Shockwave, who took the time to assess the femme’s appearance.

The femme was incredibly small and thin. While there was a possibility that a ground bridge malfunction could have weakened her armor, it was evident to Shockwave that the femme also lacked armor. Most Cybertronians he encountered had thick, layered armor covering vital parts of the body. Warframes always had such armor, but other frames adopted it when the war officially began. However, these two bots lacked layered armor. Theirs was perfectly molded to their frames, with only a few pieces jutting out. 

The femme’s appearance reminded him of the Decepticon femme currently trapped in a stasis chamber in storage. Shockwave had never met Airachnid, but he often passed by her chamber while he was collecting equipment. This femme shared her color scheme and had similar kibble. 

Knock Out suddenly recoiled. “Ugh, Primus!” He shook his servo viciously, trying to shake off the feeling of whatever he just touched. “It’s not a Cybertronian! It’s some sort of organic!” 

The Vehicon dropped the femme immediately. 

The others gagged in disgust, but Shockwave was intrigued. The bots certainly looked like Cybertronians, though they had different armor. But before the scientist could inspect the femme himself, the supposed-organic grunted. Knock Out and the other Decepticons backpedaled to the edges of the catwalk as the strange creature began to slowly move. Shockwave stood motionless, even as Knock Out ran behind him in an attempt to use the cyclops as a living shield.  
“What are you standing there for? Shoot it before it wakes up!” Knock Out hissed at Shockwave. The medic nudged the scientist forward, or at least tried to, Shockwave didn’t move an inch.  
Shockwave repeated his previous command. “Restrain them. Organic or not, Lord Megatron will decide what to do with them.”

The Vehicons obeyed, albeit moving with much more caution than before. Energon bands were wrapped around the creature’s torso and other appendages before being hoisted off the ground. Meanwhile, Knock Out had cautiously approached the larger life form. The red mech tapped the purple armor with his pede and, after determining the larger creature wouldn’t wake up, checked his scanner again. 

“This one has an energy signature and its armor seems perfectly fine, thank the Allspark. So we only have one organic freak to deal with.” Knock Out shuddered as he remembered the feeling of the strange creature’s flesh. He shook his head, trying to shake the memory out of his processor, and continued, “So are we giving the big one the same treatment? It would be a shame to just throw a perfectly capable Decepticon in the brig.”

“This mech arrived by means of a ground bridge malfunction and its companion is an organic wearing a Decepticon insignia. It would be illogical to trust this person by appearance alone.”

Stasis cuffs were placed on the large mech’s thick wrists. Then the Vehicons disarmed the mech, pulling two large payloads out of each forearm before rolling the bot on their front and pulling out smaller explosives. With the mech successfully disarmed, the soldiers determined the bot was safe to move into the brig. Unfortunately, it was obvious to all in attendance that the bot was far too heavy to carry across the ship like the organic. 

Knock Out winced at the scraping noise of metal on metal as the large mech was pushed across the floor. Knock Out and Shockwave watched as the mech was moved past them and onto the catwalk. “So,” Knock Out began as the other bots began to file out of the room, “what do you plan on telling Big M? He won’t be happy to hear his favorite communications officer has vanished without a trace. Though Starscream disappearing is probably good for all of us.”

Shockwave nodded. “He will likely be displeased. However, you were the one to find these two and witness the disappearance of Starscream and Soundwave, it is only logical that you be the one to report this incident to Megatron.”

“Oh, Shockwave, I wouldn’t dream of being the one to ruin Megatron’s good mood. Besides, you’re the smartest person on the ship, you would be able to figure out what happened and tell Megatron. This is not my area of expertise.”

Shockwave signed inwardly. Truthfully, he did not care who reported to Megatron, it would not change any of the events that occurred. He would rather return to work than deal with this, but it seemed that the ground bridge malfunction would delay his work on Project Predacon.

A soft click drew Shockwave’s attention to the entrance of the bridge. Megatron stepped into the room, instantly creating tension in the room. The warlord approached slowly, his optics narrowed as he regarded the two bots with suspicion. “Shockwave, why are you not in your laboratory? And Knock Out, you should be searching for other Predacon bones? Or is there something more important than the destruction of the Autobots and restoration of our planet?”

Knock Out stiffened at his tone. “No, Lord Megatron, of course not! However, there has been a small setback-” Knock Out muted his vocalizer instantly as Megatron growled. 

“What ‘setback’?”


	3. Q & A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus Bumblebee and Prowl race to Sumdac Tower after a harrowing call from Isaac Sumdac. 
> 
> Starscream wakes up encased in ice and things get more confusing for him from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kind comments! This chapter's pretty slow but necessary for the next chapter featuring this universe. For now, please enjoy a couple of confused Transformers and a human.

“So, tell me again what happened?” Bumblebee asked as he, Prowl, and Optimus drove through the back garage of Sumdac Tower. It was a private entrance the Autobots often used to access the top of the tower and housed one of the only lifts strong enough to hold their combined weight. 

“Bumblebee,” Prowl sighed as they transformed and continued their race to the top of Sumdac Tower in bipedal mode. The trio briskly walked through the garage until they reached the industrial lift doors. “Prime told us what Sumdac said twice already. How many more times do you need to hear it?”

“Until it starts making sense!” The yellow bot threw his servos in the air. 

Optimus ignored the two as they continued bickering, a skill he’d developed after stellar cycles of hearing them go back and forth, and focused on entering their security credentials to access the large industrial lift. While it was annoying to hear Bumblebee ask the same question three times in 15 minutes, he couldn’t blame the young bot. 

Prime had been calibrating his energon axe in his room, enjoying the relative quiet as Bumblebee watched TV and Prowl was on monitor duty, when Sumdac called him. The professor spoke in a hushed tone and told him that Ratchet, Sari, and Bulkhead had disappeared and 2 large unknown Cybertronians and a human were now lying unconscious at the top of Sumdac Tower. 

Needless to say, it had been the fastest drive to Sumdac Tower since Megatron had been reconstructed. 

“You think it’s Cons?” Prowl asked as they stepped in the elevator. He stood to Prime’s left and Bumblebee was on Prime’s right. 

“I don’t know,” Optimus responded honestly. He brought up his battle mask and gripped his axe tightly. “But I’m not about to take any chances.” 

Prowl and Bumblebee shared a wary look and quickly followed his example and brought up their battle masks and weapons. 

The ride up to the upper levels was silent. It was the calm before the storm, Optimus realized. He took the time to strategize what to do if the bots turned out to be hostile. The terminal at the top of the tower held the schematics to the Autobot space bridge, which was now vulnerable to whoever was on the roof. His team had barely managed to prevent Megatron from transwarping to Cybertron, but there was always the possibility the other Decepticons would try to download the schematics to build another space bridge. 

Then there was the safety aspect to deal with. The 3 intruders might have woken up and taken Sumdac hostage by now. And of course, there was the constant danger of being thrown off the tower. Optimus winced at the last scenario. He’d already been killed once by falling out of the sky and he’d rather not repeat it.

An angry buzzing alarm indicated that the trio had reached the roof of the Tower. Optimus kept his sensors on high alert as he stepped out of the lift first. The roof was split into two levels, the lower one was littered with spare parts and discarded machinery while the upper level held the space bridge and its console. 

Optimus tried to listen in for any telltale noises of a fight. Typical signs of a fight ranged from shouts and clanging metal to explosions and loud declarations of love for Megatron. But he didn’t hear anything but murmurs, which he identified as the voice of Professor Sumdac.

“Shouldn’t we be hearing some Decepticon’s maniacal laugh by now?” Bumblebee commented behind him. As usual, he was way too loud, and Prowl hushed him. 

Optimus turned to his teammates and spoke quietly. “Bumblebee and I will take the elevator up. Prowl, you move to the other side of the room and use your booster to jump to the second floor.” That way, they’d have some element of surprise in case he and Bee got cornered in the lift. As he stepped into the green lift, Prime made a mental note to ask Sumdac if they could install Cybertronian-sized stairs.

They rose smoothly but slowly. Optimus began to assess the scene as soon as his optics rose above floor-level. Two large bots laid unmoving in the middle of the floor, their bodies taking up most of the free space. The lift was facing the bot’s pedes and not their heads, so he couldn’t get any information aside from what color they were. One was red and white and the other was emerald green

The elevator came to a stop and the two Autobots departed from its carriage. 

Both Autobots put away their respective weapons and brought out a pair of stasis cuffs. ‘ _ Might as well put the cuffs on them now and avoid a fight.’ _ Security bots hovered in the air around them. It wasn’t back-up exactly, but Optimus was grateful Sumdac had taken steps to protect himself. Based on the size of these two, Sumdac and the Autobots needed as much help as they could get. These strange Cybertronians were large, even the smaller bot, a red and white mech, looked like he stood a few meters above Optimus. Optimus noted the wheel on their pedes and wondered how large their vehicle mode must be. 

“Professor…?” Bumblebee called out softly. He gave the unconscious mechs a wary glance and a wide berth as he searched out the human.

A tuft of black hair poked out from behind the red mech’s shoulder. “Oh!” A familiar voice said. “My friends, I am glad you came so quickly!” 

Optimus let out a sigh of relief as he watched Isaac Sumdac make his way around the red mech to them. At least he wasn’t injured. “We’re glad you’re okay, Professor Sumdac.” He tossed his stasis cuffs to Bumblebee, who caught them easily and got to work cuffing the bots.

“Do you have any idea how these bots got here?” 

The man shook his head and responded, “No. They’ve been unconscious ever since I found them here but the human boy is awake now.” The Professor began walking back to his original position behind the red mech’s shoulder and the Autobot followed. 

There they found a human male, crouched on the ground and looking worse for wear. 

“I was in my office having a meeting when I heard a loud boom coming from up here! At first, I thought that Bulkhead had merely fallen, but it sounded too heavy to be Bulkhead tripping on a wire. So I checked the security cameras and I found these three! I came down here as quickly as I could!” Sumdac stopped his rambling to take a shaky breath. He continued at a much slower pace, “I don’t know where the others and Sari have gone. I wasn’t quite sure what to do after that but I figured the best thing would be to call you but perhaps I should have-”

“You did fine, Professor.” Optimus belayed the distressed man. He knelt to the floor and kept his voice even. “Just take deep inhalations.”

“I-I think I need to sit down now.” 

The truck felt pity for the portly man as he made his way over to the space bridge terminal and sat in one of the rolling chairs. He turned his attention back to the other human. Whatever nausea the human suffered from was beginning to wear off enough for him to begin moving again. He began to lean against the unconscious red Autobot and slowly stand. Optimus Prime watched intently as the human looked up, blue eyes meeting blue optics. 

“Uh...hi.” The young man croaked out. He looked more sheepish than scared, like Sari when she’d been caught eating too many candy bars from the vending machines at the base. Most humans he encountered were wary around Cybertronians but this one didn’t seem bothered at all. It was quite odd, considering his team was the only group of Cybertronians that interacted with Earthlings. 

“Hello,” Optimus replied simply. He quickly ran through all the questions he’d have for this intruder. It was hard to pick one to start with.

Bumblebee then decided to draw their attention. “Man, it’s a good thing these guys were on their backs. Can you imagine if we had to flip this one over so we could cuff him? Then we’d  _ really _ need Bulkhead.” Bumblebee grinned triumphantly as he posed atop the green mech. When no one laughed, he jumped off the bot onto the ground, right behind the mysterious new human. 

Again, the human was unbothered. “You know Bulkhead?”

“ _ You _ know Bulkhead?” Bumblebee and Optimus said in unison. 

Okay, now was the time to start asking some serious questions. Not only did this random human come out of thin air along with two unknown mechs, but he also knew Bulkhead somehow. Did Bulkhead have human friends that weren’t the Sumdacs?

“Who are you?” Optimus narrowed his optics. 

“Jack. Jack Darby.” He answered. Jack’s tone and behavior shifted from hesitant to nervous as he seemed to now realize he was surrounded by strangers with no one to help him. He backed up against the still unconscious red mech. “You guys are Autobots, right? Um...do you guys know Ratchet?”

“Oh, we know them. The question is how do  _ you _ know them?” Bumblebee placed a servo on his hip and activated one of his stingers. He waved his stinger at the boy and demanded, “Start talking!”

“Cool it, Bumblebee.” Optimus held up a servo in an attempt to calm Jack and Bumblebee. He brought his attention back to Jack. “We don’t want to hurt you but I’m sure you realized the position you’re in right now. Our friends have disappeared and you three have come out of nowhere on top of this very private and secure building.”

“But I don’t even know where I am or what happened!” Jack sputtered and tried to press himself further against the unconscious mech’s armor. “It was just a weird ground bridge malfunction. I had nothing to do with any of this! But, uh, maybe if we woke up Ratchet he could let us know? He’s kinda a space bridge expert” Jack gestured behind him. 

Ratchet?

Wait.

Optimus looked over at the other mech, the large and round one.  _ Bulkhead. _ Optimus narrowed his optics and turned towards Professor Sumdac. “Professor-”

“Oh slag!” Bumblebee cried and pointed to the other side of the room. Prowl had beat them to the punch, already standing by the suspected cause of their problems. 

Sitting in the corner of the room, and looking deceptively innocent, was the Bi-Directional Unified Transit Terminal. It was partially disassembled but still recognizable to Bumblebee and Optimus Prime, two of its three victims. Cords spilled out from the machine and some of the metal siding was missing. All in all, it didn’t look like it was operational but Prime knew better than to assume anything with Sumdac’s inventions. 

Suddenly everything made a bit more sense. Ratchet, Sari, and Bulkhead didn’t disappear, they transwarped while Sumdac’s back was turned. A flash of annoyance ran through Optimus’ systems. Why the frag was this machine up here? They needed to work on the space bridge, not experiment with this thing. They had to warn the Elite Guard that the Head of Intelligence was a Decepticon agent!

The Professor was quick to defend his invention. He got up from his chair and rejoined the group. “It can’t be the reason they’re gone! It doesn’t have a power source.” He gestured to the power cables on the floor. They were jumbled and mismatched but lying a good few feet away from the BUTT. “Sari’s key activated the machine last time but given it’s been drained of its energy…”

“Uhm,” Jack spoke up with hesitance. He was still pressed against his companion and looked just as nervous as before. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

Optimus let out a heavy sigh. He thought back to the explanation he’d been given by the first authority figure they’d encountered when they first arrived in the Transtech’s dimension. Officer Flareup’s words echoed in his processor as he responded. “You’re in Detroit. Only not the Detroit you’re familiar with - the one on your Earth - you’re in an alternate reality.”

Jack reacted as well as Optimus expected. “W-what? How? What? That’s not-I didn’t think Cybertronians could-” Jack jolted as he felt movement behind him.

The red mech, Ratchet apparently, had begun to come online. 

“Let’s take the cuffs off of them,” Optimus told Prowl and nodded over to the two Cybertronians. They were likely going to be incredibly confused when they came back online and coming online with cuffed servos probably wouldn’t ease their worries.

Bumblebee stayed with Jack, while Prowl and Optimus got to work. The Prime came to Ratchet’s side and began fidgeting with the cuffs but only managed to uncuff one servo before he had to dodge a swing to the face.

“Hah!” Ratchet brought himself up on one forearm and swung blindly, only missing Optimus by a couple of centimeters. Ratchet’s optics were dimmed and his movements were sluggish after he missed Optimus’ helm. His fist fell back to the ground with a thud and he groaned. 

“Woah! Take it easy! I’m an Autobot too and I can assure you that you’re in a safe space.” Optimus gestured to the insignia on his shoulder. After a quick once-over, he found Ratchet’s small insignia on the upper right corner of his chest plate.  _ ‘I guess Bumblebee didn’t see that.’ _ Optimus sighed inwardly. Leave it to Bumblebee to miss that important clue. “You’re Ratchet, right?”

The red mech nodded briefly before wincing in pain. He gripped his helm and his optics came fully online. Now that Optimus knew this was another version of Ratchet, it was easy to spot the similarities: the chevron, the paint job, the disgruntled glare of suspicion, etc. “Where am I?” Ratchet grunted as he sat up. Optimus had the foreknowledge from dealing with their cranky medic to know  _ not _ to help this Ratchet sit up.

“It’s a bit hard to explain.” Optimus glanced at Jack, who had been swept up in a crash course on dimension travel with Professor Sumdac and Bumblebee. Jack looked like he was struggling to understand any explanation they were giving. Prime repeated his previous explanation to the mech. “You’re in Detroit but not Detroit from your Earth, an alternate reality-”

“Do I need to run a diagnostic on your processor?” Ratchet interrupted with a look of disbelief that bordered on comical. He shook his head. “Perhaps I should run a diagnostic on my own.”

A loud groan of pain stopped Optimus from commenting further. 

“Oohhh my aching processor,” Bulkhead grunted as he sat up and ran a large servo over his helm. The green mech zeroed in on his teammate immediately.“You alright, Ratchet? Wait, where’s Jack?” Bulkhead began looking around, completely ignoring the change of location and unfamiliar Autobots around him.

“I’m right here, Bulkhead!” Jack broke away from Bee and Sumdac’s fact assault to stand next to Optimus.

“Oh thank the Allspark! I thought Arcee would kill me if I let you disappear. ” Bulkhead stood up with a groan. He stumbled briefly and Optimus feared the large mech would fall and shake the whole tower. Thankfully though, Bulkhead righted himself quickly. He fixed Optimus with a stern look, one that he’d never imagine on his dimension’s Bulkhead in a million stellar cycles. “So who are these guys?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s a long story. If it’s not a long story, it’s definitely a complicated one.” Jack rubbed the back of his head. Bumblebee, Professor Sumdac, Optimus, and Prowl nodded.

“Regardless of how we wound up in this situation, we need to get off of the roof of this building. One of these humans is bound to notice us on top of this skyscraper.” Ratchet cut in with a wave of his servo. He warily looked out to the bustling city around them and tensed when a hover-billboard passed in the distance. “It’s only a matter of time before one of them looks up and then we’ll have more problems than figuring out how to get back home.”

“Why would humans be a problem? It’s not like they haven’t seen an Autobot before.” Bumblebee took the question right out of Optimus’ vocalizer. The truck wondered what went down in their dimension that resulted in their wariness around humans. Optimus was grateful the humans were so forgiving to his team after countless instances of property damage.

“These two are quite large. There’s a possibility someone could mistake them for Decepticons. Perhaps we should take this somewhere more private?” Prowl pointed out and Ratchet and Bulkhead bristled at that comment.

“Where else are we gonna go? We can’t take them back to base.”

“Alright slow down, you two. Getting our story straight is our biggest concern right now. If anything happens, Captain Fanzone will let us know and calm the humans down.”  _ ‘And there’s no way we’re taking them back to base this early.’  _ Optimus thought. Optimus Prime was proud of the fact that the Decepticons hadn’t located their base yet, and he wasn’t about to lead these three to their home so quickly. Especially because the last time he’d met a regular “Autobot” in the Transtech’s world, it had actually been a weird purple version of Megatron with a dinosaur head for a hand. 

“Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened that resulted in the ground bridge malfunction. Everything was functioning normally. I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.” Ratchet stroked his chin as he thought back to the breem before everything went wrong. Optimus felt a pang of pity for the mech. This incident might be solely their fault and Jack, Ratchet, and Bulkhead were just unfortunate victims.

“This might be easier to piece together once we explain our side of the story. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened to us.” 

Bulkhead cocked his head to the side. “Something like this? Where are we? What’d I miss?” He looked to Ratchet for an explanation.

“These four  _ claim _ that we’re in another dimension but that is a baseless theory. Ground bridge travel is not capable of such a feat.” Ratchet side-eyed Optimus and shook his head. That was the third time they’d mentioned ground bridges. Prime would have to ask what that was next time they brought it up.

Bulkhead whistled in astonishment. “Woah! That’s the sort of stuff I’ve only seen in movies! So since you guys know how dimension travel works, you can send us back now, right?”

Well...

“We can send you back!” Sumdac piped up, happy to put in his opinion now that they’d reached a familiar topic. “However, we can’t send you back right now…”

Ratchet picked up on the hesitance right away. He scrubbed a servo over his face and Optimus was once again reminded of his team’s Ratchet. “Please tell me you know how to send us back.” Bulkhead’s eye ridges rose and Jack looked at Professor Sumdac with a panicked expression.

The Professor made an evasive noise before responding, “Not at the moment.”

“Do you at least know how this malfunction occurred?” Ratchet let out a rough sigh. If Ratchet didn’t have a processor-ache before, Optimus was sure he had one now. The others remained silent as they watched the two converse, worry present on all of their faceplates.

To his credit, Isaac wasn’t bothered by the suddenly tense atmosphere. “I am currently working on some theories but I have nothing concrete.” 

“Oh no.” Jack slapped his hands to his forehead and sucked in a panic breath. “So you’re telling me that you have no idea how we got here or how we can get back?”

“Do not worry! I will have this all sorted out soon!”

No one was convinced.

Ratchet was growing more and more aggravated. “Now would be a good time to hear this story-” Ratchet paused, he looked at the three Autobots. “-what are your names?”

“My name is Optimus Prime, this is Bumblebee, that’s Prowl, and this is Professor Sumdac.” Optimus gestured to each person as he mentioned their names. When he looked back to Ratchet, he saw that the red and white mech’s optics were wide. Bulkhead and Jack’s expressions mirrored Ratchet’s. 

There was an awkward silence as he waited for the three newcomers to process what he’d just said. He fidgeted as he watched their optics and eyes roam over each member of his team. 

Then after a few painful seconds Bulkhead spoke, suspicion dripping from his words, “This better be one wild story.”

“Oh no worries,” Bumblebee grinned. “It definitely is.”

⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿⊿

Starscream jolted out of stasis with a rough, ragged scream. His sensors came online all at once, bringing him back to consciousness as quickly as he’d been knocked out of it. It was a jarring sensation that left him cycling air through his mouth for several moments as he tried to calm down. Once his spark stopped beating, Starscream tried to assess where he was.

He was on the floor, Starscream could tell that much, and the ceiling above him was lined with bright fluorescent lights. This place was far too bright to be the Nemesis or any other Decepticon ship. He was filled with a creeping sense of dread at that realization. He had been in the Scotland bluffs making his way to the Nemesis only a few seconds ago.

“Ah, you woke up much faster than I anticipated.” Starscream heard a voice above him, just outside of his line of sight. That was quickly corrected as a bot came into view above him. A tan and purple bot was standing over his helm, meaning Starscream was looking at him upside down. The bot had a blue face, mismatched optics, and wore a large Decepticon insignia on his chassis. 

_ ‘At least I’m with other Decepticons.’ _ Starscream thought. He’d rather be on the Nemesis but it's better than dealing with curious humans or any Autobots. 

This strange-looking mech regarded Starscream with a cool, analytical gaze. “Now, where are Lugnut and Blackarachnia?”

“Who?” Starscream asked incredulously before he paused. Wait, why was  _ he _ answering questions? He was the Decepticon Air Commander, for spark’s sake. The seeker sat up, or at least he tried to. Starscream grunted in surprise when he failed to move his arms or legs. He glanced down and gasped in shock. 

He was encased in ice from the neck down. 

The Air Commander’s mind immediately went into overdrive. Starscream tried to squirm against the ice, testing out its thickness, but couldn’t even twitch his digit. So that ruled out using his missiles to break the ice and since he was unable to activate his thrusters in robot mode, he had no hope of breaking out by himself. “Release me! Now!”

The blue mech frowned before shifting. The mech’s face into the side of the helmet like a revolving door and, like a revolving door, another face took its place. The tan Decepticon’s face was now a red one with a large jaw and red visor. “Answer the question or you’ll be eating flame missiles for breakfast!” Two black turrets on his back bent and aimed at Starscream’s face. There was another face shift and a black face with a crooked red grin and optics was now cackling, “All part of a balanced diet!”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know who Lugnut and Blackarachnia are!” Perhaps it was the effects of blacking out, the melting ice seeping into his plating, this bot with 3 faces, or a combination of all three, but Starscream was extremely confused. Who was this Con? What happened after Starscream entered the ground bridge? 

The Decepticon’s face shifted back to the original one. He straightened and briskly walked out of Starscream’s line of sight. Starscream listened as his captor began muttering to himself and pacing back and forth. 

There was a loud crash. “I’m gonna tear out Lugnut’s optics for this! That bug is going to pay for this too! First, Megatron and Starscream and now this?! Do they want me to be the last Con on this planet!?” 

Megatron and Starscream? Last Decepticon on the planet?

“What are you raving about?  _ I’m _ Starscream. And nothing’s happened to me other than being trapped by a 3-faced lunatic!” 

The pacing stopped. There was a very tense silence as Starscream waited for a response.

“You are a very bad liar.” 

For frag’s sake.

“I’m not lying! I’m Starscream, Air Commander of the Decepticons! Second in Command to Megatron!”

There was a short transformation sound as the mech switched faces yet again. Starscream groaned as he heard raucous laughter. “Oh hoho! And they say I’m crazy! Who in their right processor would want to be Starscream?” There was another uproar of laughter. It was abruptly cut off by another shifting sound. “Perhaps your companion will provide more information.”

The twin turrets went off right next to Starscream’s body and bits of ice and water came down on his head. Through the droplets on his optics, Starscream could make out the purple mech standing to his left. He stood with his hands on his hips and his turrets still ready to fire at whoever was trapped next to Starscream. 

“Let’s try this once again. Where are Lugnut and Blackarachnia?”

There was no response.

The red face was back. “Answer me!” 

A black tentacle shot out from the ice and rammed the purple Decepticon in the face. Starscream held back a victorious whoop as he felt the ice start to break around him. He and Soundwave broke free at the same time, shaking the ice from their joints as the 3-faced bot fired a missile at them. 

Starscream dodged a missile just in time and flinched as it landed too close for comfort. This environment was far too small for a firefight. Hitting any of the vials of mysterious liquid could send them all to a fiery doom. Soundwave sidestepped the missile easily and used both his tentacles to slam the purple Decepticon into the wall. 

“Are you glitched? Do you want to kill us all?” Starscream shouted at the clearly unhinged Cybertronian. As if on cue, there was a loud boom behind him. All three Cybertronians turned towards the source of the loud noise. A transwarp power cell lay on the floor, made of charred metal and fragmented glass, but still recognizable. “That can’t be good.” Starscream turned to Soundwave, who began to move forward.

Starscream aimed his missiles at the purple mech just as Soundwave’s tentacles released their grip. “Now where were we? Ah, yes, Megatron? Where, exactly, has he gone to?”

Starscream was beginning to see a pattern in this mech’s face changes. The red one was aggressive and used for anything violent, the blue-faced mech was much calmer and level-headed, and the black face was the comedic relief. Just as he suspected, the blue face responded. “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“Who is ‘we’?”

“Lugnut and I.” He paused before adding, “My designation is Blitzwing.”

“Blitzwing...?” Starscream parroted. He’d met a Blitzwing before, many vorns ago during the war. Other than the obnoxious yelling and short temper, this mech was nothing like the triple changer he knew of. The seeker thought back to a few minutes earlier when Blitzwing had claimed he wasn’t Starscream. Meeting Cybertronians with the same name was extremely rare at this point in the war and meeting another Starscream was nigh impossible because high ranking Decepticons usually had unique names and any copycats were forced to change theirs.

Blitzwing thought nothing of Starscream’s dumbfounded tone and instead rolled his optics. “Yes, Blitzwing. Has your processor been fried or something?” Blitzwing changed faces again and the unhinged face returned. “It must have if you think you’re Starscream! He’s the worst choice you could make!”

Before Starscream could think of a good comeback, Soundwave appeared next to him. The thin mech was silent as usual and used his screen to communicate for him. His screen displayed a diagram of Earth, which he often used to show the location of a specific target. In this case, a small icon of their Decepticon warship indicated that Soundwave was currently trying to locate the Nemesis. 

“What do you mean you can’t find it? It’s a warship!”

Blitzwing changed faces again and disregarded Starscream’s missiles to get in his face. He pushed a digit against Starscream’s chest. “Are you glitched? There are no warships in orbit! If there were, we wouldn’t be on this rock!”

Soundwave pushed the two apart and gestured back to his face, which was still displaying his attempts to locate the Nemesis. Starscream knocked Blitzwing’s servo away and continued to look over Soundwave’s face-screen. 

Starscream stroked his chin as he tried to think of an explanation. “This makes no sense! Megatron wouldn’t have taken the Nemesis out of Earth’s orbit without us.” It was more like Megatron wouldn’t leave without  _ Soundwave, _ but Starscream didn’t feel the need to say that out loud. 

“Ooh ooh! I know the answer! The Nemesis has been on this planet’s moon for solar cycles!” Blitzwing’s jack-o-lantern face interrupted his musings. He shouted, “It went boom!”

The seeker turned to Blitzwing, who currently had his arms in the air, and tried to search his jack-o-lantern face for a lie or some hint that he was joking. First Blitzwing claimed he  _ wasn’t _ Starscream and now he says that the Nemesis exploded on the Earth’s moon? Either this mech was completely delusional, which was a viable option, or something incredibly wrong happened when Starscream blacked out.

And if anyone here had the answer, it would be Soundwave.

“Soundwave, what happened when I entered the ground bridge after coming back from my mission?”

There was a moment of anxious silence as Soundwave pulled up an audio file. 

_ “Wait, where’s Commander Starscream?” _ The voice of one of his subordinates came through Soundwave’s speakers. It was the distinct voice of one of the Vehicon fliers but it was impossible to identify which one.

An identical voice responded to the first one. This other voice wasn’t as concerned.  _ “I’m surprised we even came through the ground bridge before him. He loves to be the first one in so he can gloat to any bot he finds.” _

Blitzwing snickered along with the other two on the recording. 

_ “Uh...what’s wrong with the ground bridge? Should it be that color... Soundwave, turn it off! Soundwave-” _ The audio quality degraded significantly and Starscream could barely hear anything else over the hum of static. The next 6 seconds were a garbled mess of white noise that cut off with a pathetic click.

“A ground bridge malfunction?” Starscream questioned and crossed his arms as he reviewed what he just heard. It was poor work for a mech of Soundwave’s caliber. Overall, the recording left Starscream with more questions than he started with but it did answer why he didn’t remember anything after he entered the ground bridge. 

Whatever glitch the ground bridge experienced knocked him and Soundwave. But how did Soundwave end up here when he hadn’t even entered the ground bridge?

“Do you remember anything?”

Soundwave shook his head. 

Blitzwing decided it time to go back to being a smart blue-faced mech and asked, “A ground bridge is like a space bridge, yes?” More alarms went off in Starscream’s head.

“Are you asking how a ground bridge works or what a ground bridge is?” Starscream hoped it was the former. If Blitzwing didn’t know what a ground bridge was, then they’d be in serious trouble. Starscream was beginning to think the ground bridge had sent them to the future, a possibility only a glitch like Knock Out would think of, but now…

“I don’t know what a ground bridge is but if it works like a space bridge then this-” he nodded towards the transwarp power cell “-might have something to do with it. Space bridges are volatile machines and Blackarachnia always liked playing with fire. A volatile transwarp power cell combined with Lugnut’s clumsiness could have caused a reaction.”

“But the power cell is useless without a tranwarp generator or a plasma dynamic thruster.” Starscream tossed aside Blitzwing’s proposal with ease. He still had no idea who Lugnut and Blackarachnia were but he knew enough about space bridges and ground bridges to know how transwarps worked.

The seeker looked around the room, searching for any clue to what happened. He was just beginning to rummage around the vials and scraps of metal when Blitzwing spoke up again.

“That’s it! Enough of this!” Starscream turned around just in time to see Blitzwing kick one of the remaining glaciers he’d left on the floor. Starscream’s optics widened as he watched Blitzwing promptly head for the door. 

“Where are you going?” Starscream sputtered. He sounded much more desperate than he wanted to but at least he got Blitzwing to stop in the door frame. 

Apparently, Blitzwing channeled all his anger into kicking ice because now the more reasonable blue face responded. “Between Lugnut’s stupidity and your unintelligible babbling, I have a processor-ache. I will return here in the morning. You two do whatever you want but leave me out of it until the morning.”

And with one final face swap and a mad cackle, the door slide shut. 

Starscream growled in frustration as he heard the telltale sound of a bot switching alternate modes and thrusters activating. He turned his attention back to Soundwave and found that his companion had begun to follow Blitzwing out of the lab. 

“W- and where do you think you’re going?” Starscream dropped a scrap of metal he’d found and followed the mute Decepticon. Soundwave stood motionless only a few feet away from the entry of the laboratory and Starscream caught up to him easily.

They were in the middle of a massive crater surrounded by luscious trees and rocks. It was impossible to tell where on Earth they were-not that Starscream could tell the difference between one area of Earth and the other anyway. Regardless, it was good to be outside and not in a wrecked laboratory. 

“Perhaps another bot will provide more useful information.” Starscream offered as he stood next to Soundwave. Blitzwing was no help but somebot else might be. Hopefully, they’d run into someone more stable. “Can you locate any other Decepticon energy signatures?”

Soundwave’s face monitor lit up instantly. A map of their surrounding area popped up. Two red dots that indicated Starscream’s and Soundwave’s energy signatures blinked brightly on Soundwave’s monitor. Six other Decepticon energy signatures blinked in tandem with theirs. One of them was likely Blitzwing, as the energy signature closest to them was moving rapidly in the other direction. Three of the energy signatures were close together but they were also farthest away from Soundwave’s and Starscream’s location. The last two energy signatures were also bundled together and, based on Soundwave’s map, the closest to their location.

Soundwave zoomed on the last two energy signatures. They were located across the water in a large building on the docks. Hopefully, the docks were abandoned, or else they'd have another problem to deal with. 

“Let’s hope this pair will be more helpful than Blitzwing.” Starscream prayed and the two transformed and took to the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee I wonder who Starscream could be meeting at the docks? I sure do hope it's a pair of smart, friendly, wise Decepticons.
> 
> In this universe, the Autobots have a pretty big advantage over the Cons cause they know what’s going on lolol. Starscream is just gonna get more and more frustrated as he meets more Decepticons.


	4. Q & A part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bulkhead wakes up to Sari trying - and failing - to explain how they ended up in the world of Aligned.
> 
> Megatron interrogates the two bots found on the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos and for reading 4 chapters of this thing! Getting 90+ likes when I've only posted 3 chapters is unreal guys!
> 
> BTW I don't know if any of you have noticed but I've been avoiding having characters explain the BUTT and the events of Bee in the City. I've been doing that out of pure laziness and because I think it's fun to have the readers imagine how the characters react to crazy dimension travel. But mostly out of laziness. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

Bulkhead had a terrible processor-ache. 

Actually, his whole body hurt - like he’d just been hit by a train then zapped with Bumblebee’s stingers. The energy blast the BUTT released had been powerful and left him calibrating his systems for several minutes. He hadn’t moved since he’d woke up, both because of his aching body and because of the bands currently around his forearms. He was grateful he was already sitting on the ground because he probably would have fallen over if he was able to move freely. 

Ratchet was seated beside him, faring worse than he was. The mech had been uncharacteristically silent since he’d come online, the Autobot could only hear him taking deep inhalations and letting out staticky sighs. Neither he nor Bulkhead had said anything to each other since they’d come online, their systems were too frazzled to allow them that luxury. Instead, they listened to Sari try to explain to these strange Autobots how they’d ended up in their base.

It wasn’t going great so far.

“I’m telling you guys it makes perfect sense!” Sari flailed her arms in frustration. She was currently standing in front of Bulkhead and Ratchet, serving as their barrier from the other Cybertronians while they recuperated. 

“Saying that over and over doesn’t make us understand your story any more than the first time, pipsqueak. None of it adds up. A ground bridge malfunction is one thing, but a parallel universe?” One of the mechs, a white-painted Autobot with green and red detailing, shook his head. He leaned against the wall across from them and pinned Sari down with a cold glare. 

The other six Autobots stood in a large semi-circle around them, all of them on guard for any sudden or suspicious movements. They made the occasional side comment among themselves or interrupted with a question, but for the most part, they were quiet. Four humans stood behind Bulkhead and Ratchet on the cement platform they were leaning against. 

Bulkhead had yet to learn most of their names but he had caught a few. He remembered hearing the names Arcee, Bumblebee, Agent Fowler, and Prime. It was pretty easy to assign Bumblebee to the yellow muscle car who, by the way, looked  _ nothing like _ the Bumblebee he’d known since Boot Camp. Arcee was the blue femme and was one of two Autobots to see Bulkhead, Sari, and Ratchet arrive as well as watch their friends disappear. Agent Fowler was one of the four humans situated on the cement platform he was leaning against.

And then there was the Prime. 

The Autobots of this world were big, bordering Decepticon size, but this mech was  _ massive _ . He shook the floor as he walked and his voice reverberated throughout the room. He probably could go pede-to-pede with Megatron and win! Bulkhead thought back to who this mech could be in his universe and drew a blank. Maybe this was some different version of Ultra Magnus but as a Prime? Whoever he was, this mech was clearly the one in charge.

All of this was  _ so weird. _

“I mean-” Sari gestured to her two friends as if their presence was proof enough. “-what else do you want us to say? These two aren’t the Bulkhead and Ratchet you know and you’re not the Autobots I know, especially that Bumblebee.”

Bumblebee let out a short affirmative beep. It surprised the green bot to hear the mech speak in basic beeps and clicks. Normally the only bots who spoke in that language were fresh off the assembly line and couldn’t use their vocalizers properly. It took him a few seconds before he could translate the beeps and realize Bumblebee said, _ [That’s true.] _

“For one thing, our Bee can  _ talk _ !” 

_ [Hey! It’s not like I have a choice!]  _ Bumblebee responded bitterly and crossed his arms. His response was lost on Sari, who couldn’t understand him and only cocked her head in confusion. Bumblebee’s words didn't need to be translated because his teammates came to his defense quickly. 

“Woah, that’s uncalled for!” One of the bots, a bot with a blue and yellow paint job, came forward with an affronted expression on his faceplate. His other teammates wore similar expressions. 

Okay, time to step in before these Autobots went from suspicious to downright angry. 

“Wait wait hold on!” Bulkhead groaned as he sat up straight. His whole body protested the movement but Bulkhead was determined to push through. After some awkward shifting, he was finally able to sit up properly. “Let me explain everything! Space bridge technology is kinda my thing.”

The Autobots unanimously turned to the Prime, silently awaiting orders from the massive bot. The Prime came forward slowly and Bulkhead's apprehension spiked while Sari took a step backward. The massive mech’s face was unreadable as he approached them. No one spoke as they watched Prime look over the unexpected guests. Finally, the mech said, “Do you understand how this could have occurred?”

“Faulty transwarp energy.” Was Bulkhead’s immediate answer. The Prime said nothing and his face didn’t move an inch, so the space bridge expert kept going. “Sari mentioned before that we were working near a machine that uses transwarp energy. It was  _ supposed _ to transport us from Earth to Cybertron without the use of a space bridge but it’s been known for...not doing that. My guess is that the machine hasn't been properly calibrated and it picks locations at random, even if it means breaking through inter-dimensional barriers. The energy it requires to break inter-dimensional barriers is a lot and it backfired on us. 

Honestly, the only reason Sari and I know we’re in an alternate dimension right now is because something similar happened about a year ago. The machine sent Sari and our dimension’s Bumblebee and Optimus Prime to a universe filled with people from parallel dimensions. They saw all different versions of Bumblebees, Swindles, Shockwaves, you name it.”

“Well except for Optimuses! Megatrons and Optimuses weren’t allowed for some reason.” Sari interjected in a matter-of-fact tone. She beamed up at Bulkhead, grateful for his help. 

Prime knelt slowly and Bulkhead could get a better look at his faceplate. Being able to properly see his face made the Prime way less intimidating. The Prime’s expression shifted a fraction, now he looked mildly intrigued. “Oh? What is the reason behind this?”

“No idea! I guess the Transtechs thought they’d cause trouble in their dimension. I dunno why they’d ban Optimuses though. Our Optimus doesn’t cause trouble at all.” She stopped and looked around at their group. “Do you guys have a version of Optimus Prime in your universe? I’ve only ever seen the one in ours.”

An amused chuckle rippled through their audience. It gave Bulkhead tonal whiplash to see the stern Autobots and humans suddenly look a mix of amused and shocked. Sari noticed the change too and raised an eyebrow.

“I am Optimus Prime.” The Prime stated in a neutral tone as if he  _ wasn’t _ revealing the biggest surprise of the day to them. His expression never changed even when he saw Sari’s and Bulkhead’s jaws drop. 

“Holy crap!” Sari gasped. 

Bulkhead could only nod in agreement and he looked over this mech once more. His processor ache returned in full force as he tried to spot the similarities. There was nothing other than the windows on his chassis and the similar paint job scheme. Admittedly, it was really hard for Bulkhead to see past the difference in size and voice. 

_ ‘Maybe this is what Bossbot would look like if he was taller and more serious…? I guess he’s like Ultra Magnus.’ _ Bulkhead tilted his head in thought. This wasn’t the same Optimus he was used to - something about him seemed grander, more prominent. Bulkhead saw it in the way this Optimus carried himself. This Optimus Prime looked like he could command a room of scraplets or defeat Megatron with ease.

He jolted when Optimus met his optics.  _ ‘Whoops! Guess I’ve been staring too long.’ _

“You? Optimus Prime?” An unexpected voice croaked. The SWAT truck let out a sigh of relief as he watched Ratchet move and speak for the first time since they’d been at Sumdac Tower. The older mech sat up with the softest of groans and a cacophony of creaking joints. “I never would have expected that.” The ambulance muttered and Bulkhead and Sari nodded in dazed agreement. 

“Then we are equally surprised...Ratchet. I believe introductions are necessary for us to continue.” Now he could definitely tell this Optimus was amused as he watched the smallest of smiles grace Prime’s face when he looked to Ratchet. 

The red and blue bot stood began motioning to different bots as he listed names. “You have already met Arcee and Wheeljack.” He gestured to the blue femme and the green and white mech that stood against the wall. Optimus Prime then turned to the remaining 3 Autobots. “These three are Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Ultra Magnus.” He gestured to Bumblebee, the blue and yellow bot, and then another red and blue mech with tall shoulder kibble.

The only names he recognized from his world, other than Bumblebee, were Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus. Wheeljack was famous in his world for being a brilliant engineer and member of the Ministry of Science. He’d never personally met Wheeljack but he’d heard that the mech was quite kind and slightly absent-minded. This Wheeljack, though, looked much more guarded. 

Ultra Magnus was definitely a surprise. This Magnus had a different paint job and lacked the stark white paint that made Magnus stand out amongst most other bots. There was a long golden handle peeking out from his back, which Bulkhead assumed was the Magnus Hammer.Upon further inspection, the green mech realized Ultra Magnus wore the same expression he’d often seen on his universe’s counterpart. It was a look of perpetual displeasure that always made Bulkhead feel guilty of a crime he hadn’t committed. 

Then Optimus began introducing the four humans on the platform. Bulkhead and Ratchet had to crane their necks to be able to see them properly. Optimus started with the dark-skinned adult man in a grey suit. “This is Special Agent William Fowler. These two are Miko-” A lanky young girl, bouncing with excitement, waved to him. Her pigtails and blue socks reminded him of Sari. The small young boy with glasses next to her also greeted him with a shy wave. “-and Rafael.” 

The last human was a human female with long black hair and wearing a blue medical uniform. Bulkhead furrowed his optic ridges as he noticed her tight grip on the metal bars and her deep frown.

An anxious aura radiated off this woman.

“And this is Nurse June Darby. Her son Jack Darby is one of the three that disappeared into the ground bridge.”

_ ‘Oh man’. _ The Autobot thought to himself. Bulkhead began to open his mouth to spew out any form of apology he could manage, but June beat him to it. 

“Wait...I have a question.” She began in a soft voice. Optimus nodded and looked to Ratchet, Sari, and Bulkhead once more. “You said-” She stopped abruptly to take in a deep breath. “You said that before it teleported three people to a different dimension.”

Ratchet and Sari looked at their Space Bridge Expert immediately and everyone else’s gaze quickly followed. The green bot blinked in surprise as he realized everyone would be expecting him to answer her question.

“Uh-huh…” Bulkhead nodded slowly. Where was she going with this?

“But this situation is different - you three were brought here and Jack, Bulkhead, and Ratchet were sent somewhere else. I don’t understand how that could have happened. Why didn’t it just bring you three here and leave our three alone?”

Oh.

“That’s a good question...but I don’t really think I can answer it right now,” Bulkhead said honestly. He floundered when he realized that answer wouldn’t be enough. The woman’s face contorted into shock and he stammered in panic. “It’s just-I need time to start researching the link between transwarp energy and interdimensional travel! P-plus, I need to figure out the difference between space bridge travel and ground bridge travel!”

_ ‘I did  _ just _ get here.’ _ He thought, partly bitter and partly embarrassed. He’d just arrived online 10 minutes ago, he wasn’t ready to dole out answers right now! 

The adult woman, June, let out a shaky breath, and Bulkhead’s spark was gripped with guilt as he watched her sit on the couch slowly. June buried her face into one hand before taking in another shaky breath. “Where’s my son? Where’s Jack?” She asked, her voice traveling far in the relative silence. By now, everyone’s attention was on her. 

The SWAT truck didn’t know if she was asking him specifically but he wanted to say  _ something _ to make her feel better. “If we’re here in your universe then Jack, Ratchet, and Bulkhead are likely in ours.” He stated in the most confident voice he could muster. 

June saw through it his fake confidence.

“Do you know that for a fact or are you just guessing?” She snapped at him. Her hands fell from her face and her gaze pierced him to his spark. Her eyes were red from tears but she didn’t look sad, she looked  _ angry _ . “I don’t want to be lied to.”

Bulkhead hesitated. He knew more about space bridges than anyone on Cybertron but this was out of his wheelhouse. He  _ wanted  _ to say yes it was a fact, to reassure this mother that her son hadn’t been lost to the unknown, but he just didn’t know. It would be terrible to give her false hope but he didn’t want to break her heart.

“Do you really want to know that?” Ratchet cut in. Bulkhead winced at his callous words and tensed up more as Ratchet continued to speak. “Bulkhead here is Cybertron’s foremost space bridge expert. What he’s saying might not be fact, per se, but it’s the best theory we have right now.”

“So it’s a  _ guess _ .”

“An  _ educated _ guess. It’s not much but it’s better than believing that your offspring is...somewhere unknown.” 

June swallowed hard as if she was physically swallowing whatever words she wanted to spew at him. All of the emotion left her voice when she responded. “Well if that’s all you have to say to me, I’m going to head home now.” She turned on her heels, flew down the stairs, and made a beeline for the door. No one said a word as she crossed the floor, unsure of what to do after Ratchet’s curt words.

“Wait, Nurse Darby!” Agent Fowler called out as soon as June touched the door handle. He was only a few feet behind her when she stopped him. 

“Don’t!” June spun around, one hand up to stop the man from coming any closer and the other hand firmly gripping the door handle. Her voice quivered and she was visibly shaking as she choked out, “Please don’t-I want to be alone right now...I’ll be back…tomorrow.” She shut the door behind her with a soft click. 

The silence that followed was oppressive.

“Perhaps,” Optimus Prime began slowly, bringing everyone’s attention to him. “it would be best to take the children home as well. It has been a long day and we have much to discuss.” He spoke calmly but Bulkhead could sense some urgency behind his words like he was quickly trying to redirect their attention from the scene that just unfolded.

The other members of his team moved into action without hesitation. Bumblebee and Wheeljack nodded in unison. They approached the platform the humans were on and transformed into their vehicle mode. The two young humans gave Ratchet sour looks before walking down the scaffolding’s stairs towards the two Autobots. Miko entered the passenger seat of Wheeljack’s alt mode while Rafael sat in Bumblebee’s passenger seat. The two Autobots pulled out of the hangar without another word.

The remaining members of the team followed Optimus to the far corner of the room. Even Agent Fowler made his way over to the congregating Cybertronians. This left Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Sari standing around awkwardly as they watched these unfamiliar Autobots talk about them in hushed voices. The trio said nothing to each other for a good minute before Bulkhead decided to speak up.

“‘Do you really want to know that?’ Was that the best you could come up with, Ratchet?”

Ratchet, predictably, rolled his optics and scoffed. “You weren’t faring much better. You really think you could’ve said something to make her happy?”

“...Maybe.”

“Don’t kid yourself! You woulda just told a lie or fumbled over some excuse to make yourself feel better about this whole thing. I might not be a “people person” but I’m not gonna beat around the bush.”

Bulkhead bristled at Ratchet’s statement. His jaw clenched as he fought back the urge to shout at him. “I don’t even know how to get us back home. I didn’t want to say anything to get her hopes up but I also really didn’t want to make her feel miserable. You definitely didn’t help!” Bulkhead replied in a hushed tone. He didn’t want to admit it - he was supposed to be the space bridge expert and all - but this was out of his area of expertise. The Bi-Directional Unified Transit Terminal used transwarp energy, but how it managed to send people to different dimensions was an honest-to-Primus mystery to him. It would probably stay a mystery until they got back home.

A little sniffle drew Bulkhead’s attention away from his impending argument with Ratchet.

Primus, that could’ve only come from one person.

“Hey...you okay?” Bulkhead asked tentatively as he looked down.

Sari let out a harsh laugh from her spot against the concrete wall. She had covered her eyes with the palms of her hands and her lip quivered as she tried to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. Her friend’s spark sank with pity as he watched her fight back tears in vain. Bulkhead desperately wished Prowl or Optimus were here - they were better at encouraging her than Bulkhead or Ratchet.

Sari’s voice was heavy with sorrow as she admitted, “No. This is all my fault.” 

“It’s not your-” 

“If I hadn't touched it - which Ratchet told me  _ not _ to do - we’d still be back in Detroit right now! We’re just repeating what happened the first time my dad showed us that thing!” She dropped her hands to her lap with frustration. She’d gotten a few shades redder and her chest heaved as she took in ragged breaths.

“Take deep breaths, kid. Don’t get so worked up, we’ll figure out what to do. There’s no need to waste any saltwater over something that isn’t your fault.” Ratchet said softly, his optics uncharacteristically warm.

Sari didn’t look convinced. She smeared her arm across her nose and blinked away some of the tears. “How do you know?”

“Call it my Old Bot’s intuition.” Bulkhead took it as a kind way of saying that Ratchet wanted to place all of the blame on Sari’s father.

A forced cough brought the trio’s attention to the other Autobots and one human. 

Optimus Prime, being the leader, spoke for the rest of his group. “Though your story sounds outside of the realm of possibility in our world, we have chosen to believe it as truth. You three appear to know more about this event than we do and, if we are to locate our missing teammates and if you are to return home, we will be needing your assistance.” 

Bulkhead let out a sigh of relief. So they wouldn’t keep these cuffs on forever.

“Thank you,” Sari said in earnest. 

“Don’t think this means we’re gonna start trusting you right away! You’re still suspicious and we’ll be watching you like technohawks.” Smokescreen leveled a glare at them and waggled an accusing digit at them. It looked a bit more silly than intimidating and Ratchet was quick to point it out.

“You can stop with the intimidation schtick kid, it’s not your strong suit.” Ratchet shot an unimpressed look at Smokescreen. He then turned to Optimus. “We appreciate your help, Optimus Prime. I doubt we’d be able to figure out a way home by ourselves.”

“Allies are few and far between during these times. You are as much help to us as we are to you.” 

“So what do you want us to do now?”

“Perhaps you could tell us more about your world. I am curious about the differences between ours and yours.”

“Okay.” Bulkhead nodded. He had plenty of questions about this universe too, especially about the machine behind him. Like, what the heck was a ground bridge and where could he get the schematics to bring them to Detroit? “What should we start with?”

Apparently, the Autobots had already discussed that part, because Prime responds immediately. “I am curious to know about your team and how you ended up on Earth. We must also discuss the Decepticons, both in your world and in ours. But, if it’s not too much trouble, I would like you to start with telling us about the Optimus Prime of your dimension.”

* * *

He’d been reviewing the footage of the ground bridge malfunction for over a megacycle with little success. Knock Out’s description of the incident was apt. Nothing appeared wrong at the first, second, third, and preceding review of the footage. Soundwave opened the ground bridge, two Vehicons arrived on the ship via the bridge, then the ground bridge portal turned blue, and finally, a flash of light burst from the portal that rendered the cameras useless for several seconds. The whole video only lasted a few seconds, less than a breem.

It all seemed very straightforward, and yet, so confusing. Megatron didn’t have the patience to review the footage more than 5 times but Shockwave kept his optic glued to the short video for an hour. Megatron had waited for the scientist to finish, mulling over his thoughts about the whole situation to pass the time.

Where had they gone? Why had the two Vehicons arrived just fine but Starscream had disappeared? Why had the ground bridge affected Soundwave, who hadn’t entered the ground bridge? 

The warlord could survive without Starscream but Soundwave was a valuable asset to the Decepticon cause. That thought brought him back to the question: Why was Soundwave taken as well? From there, he had gone in a circle back to wondering where they’d gone. 

The loop of questions had him seething with frustration. 

The warlord was left pacing around the room, muttering possible explanations to himself while Shockwave’s attention was glued to the screens. Eventually the loop of questions was too much for him and he snapped. There was no use in burning a hole into the floor when two of the ground bridge’s victims could provide answers.

“Bring me the Cybertronian.” Megatron barked at a random subordinate nearby. He didn’t need to specify who, he was sure every bot on the ship was whispering about the two new beings that arrived by way of a ground bridge malfunction. 

The large unknown mech was brought to him a few minutes later. He struggled against his bonds and the Vehicons holding his arms but he was unable to break free. Megatron regarded the mech with a narrowed, critical gaze as the intruder stood in front of him. 

“You dare imprison a lieutenant of Megatron! You will pay dearly for this!” The mech roared as soon as he stopped walking. The pure force of anger that coursed through this mech made his purple armor rattle. Even with his payloads removed, this unknown bot posed a threat due to his massive size. 

Megatron’s sword slid out of its concealment with a dangerous click. “You are a lieutenant of Megatron, are you?”

_ ‘What a very bold and stupid lie.’ _

The purple mech didn’t back down, even as the tip of Megatron’s blade was positioned in front of his center optic. “I have been by Megatron’s side since the Battle for Kaon! I have slain countless Autobots for the Decepticon cause and Megatron has rewarded me with a high position in his empire!”

“Ah yes, I remember the Battle for Kaon. The ground was stained with energon and stunk of burnt out spark cases for many a Quartex after that battle. However, I don’t recall ever running into you.” Megatron stated, his blade still inches from his main optic. “What is your designation?”

“Lugnut.”

The name didn’t help his investigation. 

Megatron drew back and crossed his arms behind his back and flexed her servos. “I do not recall ever meeting a Lugnut, much less promoting him to a lieutenant. 

Lugnut’s optics contracted a fraction. “You are not Megatron.”

Did the mech really not know who he was? “Ahh, but that is where you’re wrong. I am Megatron - the  _ only _ Megatron and leader of the Decepticons.”

His declaration sent Lugnut into a frenzy. 

“As Primus as my witness, you are not Megatron! How dare you try to impersonate our grand and glorious leader!” The hulking mech turned to the surrounded Vehicons. Some of them flinched at his bombastic voice. “How dare any of you go along with his ploy! You cowardly bots are not Decepticons!” 

“And who do you think I am, then, if I am not Megatron?” 

“An imposter.” The mech glowered. Suddenly, and before Megatron could put a sword through his spark, the bot’s main optic glowed and projected a hologram. Standing between Megatron and Lugnut was a projection of a tall grey flier. The mech in the image stood proudly, optics narrowed dangerously as he scowled, a large fusion cannon was mounted on one arm and a sword was gripped in the other servo. “This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.”

Megatron glared at the image, at this mech that dared to take his name and claim to be the leader of the faction he worked so hard to create. It made his spark burn in pure rage.

Megatron scowled when the hologram began to speak. 

_ “Fellow Decepticons,” _ the hologram spoke in a proud voice that sounded nothing like him,  _ “take heed! Your leader Megatron still lives! Though we remain dispersed throughout far reaches of the galaxy, exiled from our true home, we are all still Decepticons united by a common purpose! The time has come for us to put aside our differences and act as one under my undisputed leadership. Only then can we cast off the shackles of Autobot oppression. Working together, we can raise up our glorious Empire once more and crush all who stand in our way!” _

“You seek to overtake the Decepticon Empire! Many have tried and Megatron has defeated all of them! He ripped out their sparks as they begged for mercy and received none!” Lugnut roared again as soon as his “glorious leader” finished speaking. The Vehicons holding him tightened their grip as Lugnut’s armor was rattled by his voice once more.

Megatron was too focused on processing the video to listen to Lugnut. He was about to dismiss the bot as crazy, execute him, and have his lifeless shell broken down for spare parts. This, however, was hard for Megatron to understand. No bot was foolish enough to imitate him, or at least that's what he'd thought. This mech was claiming to be Megatron and other Decepticons were  _ believing it _ despite the fact that this mech looked nothing like him and sounded nothing like him.

What was more alarming was the subject of the speech. Exiled from our home? He assumed this bot was referring to Cybertron but when had that occurred? 

This was more than a case of mistaken identity. 

“When did this...Megatron send out this message?” 

“An orbital cycle ago. It was sent out to every Decepticon at the far reaches of the galaxy.” Lugnut explained. “It was our rallying cry to rise and take back our home from the accursed Autobots!” 

“Cybertron?”

“Yes! The home we were so unjustly expelled from! Soon, Megatron will rule the Cybertron and the rest of the Autobot Commonwealth and the Autobots will have to bow down and pledge their allegiance to him...or perish for their insubordination.”

Megatron’s mind immediately brought up an often-visited fantasy of his. Cybertron restored in his image, Autobots and Decepticons and neutrals alike bowing down to him, Optimus and his loyal soldiers smelted down and long-forgotten. He mentally swatted the images away so he could focus on the task at hand. 

“Cybertron...when was the last time you’ve seen it?”

“I have not set pede on Cybertron in over 2 million stellar cycles.” By now, Lugnut had stopped seething and looked at him with an indiscernible expression. Megatron blamed it on Lugnut’s lack of optic ridges and lips.

“And what of the other being that was with you? Why do you work with an organic that resembles a Cybertronian?” Megatron didn’t know what to make of the purple being that accompanied Lugunt. It certainly  _ looked _ like a Cybertronian on the video feed, but Knock Out’s assessment said otherwise. 

Lugnut’s optics contracted, becoming small red dots. “Blackarachnia is not an organic, not entirely. She is a technorganic - a disgusting combination of Cybertronian and organic.” 

“Vile,” Megatron commented. The idea of organic and Cybertronian melding into one creature was horrific. Silas had been foolish enough to try to mend himself to Breakdown’s corpse and it had unfortunate consequences for him. From what Knock Out and Shockwave described, she looked like a Cybertronian but had outer organic parts and no spark signature. She wasn’t a clunky amalgamation like Silas but she was no less disgusting. 

He was mildly surprised when Lugnut nodded in agreement. “Blackarachnia is unsightly but her skills are useful to Lord Megatron...She would have a more recent account of Cybertron than I would.”

_ ‘If her skills are useful to this strange doppelgänger, then perhaps I can find a use for them.’ _

Megatron dismissed Lugnut and called for other soldiers to bring Blackarachnia.

Lugnut left in a much more compliant mood than he had arrived and Megatron was allowed a moment to think as the subordinates brought the techno-organic to him. Megatron was no fool, but this situation was hard for him to grasp. It  _ almost _ sounded like Lugnut was from a grim future where the war had passed and the Decepticons were spending the rest of their existence in exile, working with hybrid creatures out of desperation. But time travel was an impossible notion. At least, that’s what he hoped.

“Tell me about Megatron.” The warlord asked once Blackarachnia arrived. 

She was much calmer than Lugnut had been. She stood tall - as if she hadn’t noticed she was the shortest person in the room. Placing two Vehicons on her side wasn’t necessary, Megatron would kill her with one servo, but the soldiers were there to intimidate rather than act as guards.

Still, though, Blackarachnia was cocky for a bot - though ‘bot’ might’ve been the wrong word for her- taken prisoner with no way of escaping. “Oh, you haven’t heard? Please tell me you’ve seen another Decepticon since Megazarak was overthrown?” 

Megatron took a few steps forward and delighted in watching the smug expression melt from her face. He stopped a few feet away, still out of arm’s reach but still close enough to make her nervous. “Enlighten me.” 

Blackarachnia clenched her jaw. She said nothing for a few moments, determining if one more snarky reply was worth whatever punishment he’d give if she disrespected him again. In the end, she chose to relent to his demands. 

“He's the ruler of the Decepticon Empire. You have his insignia branded on your chest plate. We all do actually.” She paused and added, “If this is a joke, I gotta say, it’s a really bad one.”

“This is no joke.” He paused, carefully formulating his words before he addressed her again.“Your companion, Lugnut, spoke highly of your leader Megatron. This is where we have our issue…I am Megatron.”

She sputtered, “You?”

Megatron nodded. “Yes. When I first spoke with Lugnut I thought he was crazy but the image he projected to me wasn’t so easily dismissible. He played a recording of this ‘Megatron’ speaking of reclaiming Cybertron and rebuilding the Decepticon empire. Do you recall the exile of Cybertron?”

Her lower right optic twitched. “Not personally. But getting back to what you said earlier-“

“How did you hear of these events then, Blackarachnia, if you did not experience them yourself? How long ago was this exile from Cybertron?” Megatron interrupted, one optic ridge raised as he watched the hybrid’s reaction closely. Something told him he was very very close to finding the answer to the mystery of Lugnut’s and Blackarachnia’s arrival and Starscream and Soundwave disappearing.

“The exile of the Decepticons was before I received a spark. Lugnut is much, much older than me.” 

“You have a spark? Knock Out never detected an energy signature.”

Her mouth contorted into an offended, murderous scowl. Her white teeth stood starkly against her black lips as she let out a low growl. “I am a Cybertronian! Of course I have a spark! My organic parts mask my energy signature but I can assure you that it’s there.” Once she made her point, she relaxed visibly and started again. “Besides that, I don’t remember the exile of the Decepticons because it happened about _ half a million stellar cycles before I got off the assembly line _ .” 

There! There it was! The answer he'd been looking for!

“Are you telling me you were created after the war?” The warlord stalked towards her. The Vehicons beside her quickly moved out of his way and Blackarachnia tensed as he quickly drew closer. His optics were wide as he looked down at her, his vents cycled air frantically as his spark was gripped with unfamiliar anxiety. “Do you expect me to believe that the Decepticon army loses the war and I spend the rest of my lifespan in exile?” 

_ ‘I must know! I must know that this isn’t how stellar cycles of hardship and toil end!’ _

“Lord Megatron.” Shockwave’s deep, monotone voice cut through his thoughts. Megatron’s head snapped in Shockwave’s direction and realized that the scientist had approached him while the Vehicons in the room had shrunken back. “I believe I have come to an appropriate conclusion regarding the disappearance of Starscream and Soundwave and the displacement of Blackarachnia and Lugnut.”

Shockwave’s words cleared away the anxious fog of thoughts in his mind. Megatron straightened and lowered his servo, which had been inches away from clenching around Blackarachnia’s throat, and glanced at the scientist. “Tell me, Shockwave.”

The purple mech joined the pair, his single optic locked onto Blackarachnia as he spoke to his Lord. “Both Lugnut and Blackarachnia speak of events that haven’t occurred and obey a Cybertronian we are unfamiliar with. They may be lying but their demeanor towards you suggests something else. They are completely unfamiliar with you. Had you not introduced yourself, I suspect they wouldn’t have known you were Megatron.”

“What you’re saying, Shockwave?” The purple bot was being as cryptic as ever. 

“I do not believe the events Blackarachnia speaks of occur in this timeline.”

To his surprise, Blackarachnia picked up on Shockwave’s words faster than he did. She tilted her head to the side and her voice was full of skepticism. “This timeline? You don’t really think Lugnut and I are from a different timeline, do you?”

The cyclops nodded. “It may be more accurate to say alternate universe as there are more than just historical differences between us. Both you and Lugnut share a unique physical appearance unlike other Cyebrtronians I have encountered. Your armor is tightly secured to your protoforms and it gives you the flexibility that a regular Cybertronian doesn't have. You also mentioned another name I am unfamiliar with as well. Who is Megazarak?”

Now Blackarachnia’s smirk returned, cocky as ever. She gave Megatron a quick glance. “The original leader of the Decepticons.”

“What?!” Megatron roared with so much outrage he surprised himself a little bit. “In what world would I fail to establish the Decepticons?! I am the only leader of the Decepticons, in this world and all others.” He seethed, the image of the proud mech Lugnut showed him was now tarnished by this fact. 

How could Megatron  _ not _ be the original leader of the Decepticons? If he wasn’t the original leader of the Decepticons, that would make him like  _ Starscream _ \- a second-place runner up who used their silver tongue and backstabbing to get what they wanted. 

More importantly, it wouldn’t make him a warrior who fought with every ounce of their spirit and strength.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news then, Megatron.” Blackarachnia didn’t make an effort to hide her insincerity. Megatron was too caught up in the comparison between an alternate version of him and Starscream to really notice. “The Megatron of our world wasn’t the creator of the Decepticons. Megazarak created the Decepticons as an offshoot of the Destron faction and Megatron staged a coup - or challenged him I don’t recall - to take over as leader. After that Megazark was exiled, or at least that’s what the “official” word is. Any bot with a functioning processor knows that Megatron had Megazarak killed and smelted down on some backwater planet.”

Suddenly, her optics narrowed in thought and the cocky attitude dissipated. She fidgeted in her restraints as she asked Shockwave, “You mentioned a ground bridge before - does a ground bridge use the same transwarp technology that a space bridge does?”

“Ground bridges utilize transwarp energy, yes.” Shockwave nodded. “Are you familiar with ground bridge technology?”

“No, but I know enough about space bridges to know how volatile transwarp energy is. Lugnut and I were standing near a space bridge power cell right before we got sent here. The power cell was used for a faulty space bridge...maybe it had more juice left in it than I thought.”

“A power cell that held excess transwarp energy would certainly be volatile. Yet it is unlikely to be activated unprovoked.”

“Lug-head did knock it over…”

Megatron watched the two converse as if he wasn’t even in the room. Perhaps he should have spoken to her first rather than Lugnut. The techno-organic was smarter than he first thought. He expected her to have an organic’s amount of intelligence, but she was conversing with Shockwave as if she was his colleague. Now he understood why Lugnut claimed her skills were useful to the Megatron he followed. 

Thankfully though, Megatron wasn’t like his counterpart. 

“We must return you to your world.” Megatron’s words cut through their conversation like a knife. The purple bots turned to him and listened obediently as he continued. “This is a fascinating discovery but our current priority is acquiring Predacons bones. Not only that, I desire to have my Communication’s Officer back as soon as possible. Soundwave is an essential asset to our operation and no bot on this ship can replace him.”

“Understood,” Shockwave said, his attention brought back to the warlord. “What are your orders, Lord Megatron?”

“I am not stopping Project Predacon this close to victory! We have more Predacon bones to acquire and a team of Autobots to crush. So, you will continue your research with the aid of the Vechicons, and Knock Out will assist Blackarachnia and Lugnut in finding a solution to our displacement issue.” 

He motioned to two Vehicon soldiers standing nearby and they quickly moved to grab the purple femme’s restraints. He fixed Blackarachnia with an unwavering glare, “I will not send you back the brig but don’t think that you are getting free reign. Two soldiers will accompany you everywhere you go and, if you make any move to cross me, I will have you slain and dissected like a glitch mouse.”

The femme didn’t say anything as the energon bands were removed from her arms and kibble. She rubbed her wrists to relieve some of the aches in her joints. Finally, she responded. “I understand you crystal clear, Lord Megatron. It will be a pleasure working with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does TFP Megatron's dislike of TFA Megatron make sense? idk but TFP Megatron isn't a smart guy anyway so I don't need a concrete reason lolol. Shockwave and Blackarachnia don't get along, per se, but they are smart and purple so maybe they've found comradere in that. Who does Lugnut befriend/bond with in this fic? I don’t know yet. Unfortunately for Lugnut, there aren’t many options for friends on the Nemesis. 
> 
> The Autobot cast, on the other hand, have plenty of friends to choose from. Unless the differences in characters and the bitterness over the incident causes tension...


End file.
